“Wins in April are just as important as wins in September” (baseball adage)

“Wins in April are just as important as wins in September” is a baseball adage. The wins count the same at the beginning of the baseball season as at the end. “My boys know that wins in April are just as big as wins in September” was cited in print in 1968. “The wins in April are just as important as the wins in September” was said by Joe Torre in 1984.
 
   
23 April 1968, Christian Science Monitor, “Detroit ‘came out swinging’” by Ed Rumill, pg. 13:
“My boys know that wins in April are just as big as wins in September.”
 
Google News Archive
12 April 1984, The Blade (Toledo, OH), “Padres’ Williams Has Learned The Value Of Silence” (AP), pg. 23, cols. 5-6:
Although it is still very early in the season, Torre didn’t dismiss the Padres’ quick start. “The wins in April are just as important as the wins in September,” he said.
   
Sports Central
Well Done, Mr. April
May 2, 2007 by BOB EKSTROM
(...)
The old baseball adage may hold that wins in April weigh the same as wins in September, but they always seem to be more plentiful now.
   
Yahoo! Sports
April’s Top Series for the San Francisco Giants
By Dave Tobener | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Fri, Apr 12, 2013 12:21 PM EDT
COMMENTARY | There’s an old adage in baseball that says wins in April are just as important as wins in September, and I’ve always found it to be pretty self-explanatory. If a team can jump out to a fast start early on in the season, there’s a good chance it’ll make things a little easier on itself later in the year.
 
Twitter
Lawrence J. Ryan
‏@LoR1975
Wins in April are just as important as wins in September. Time is now for the Jays to wake up. Dreadful pitching, even more dreadful hitting
7:00 PM - 17 Apr 13
   
101Sports.com
The EZees: Awards I’m Giving Out While I Was Gone
By Zach McCrite on April 23rd, 2013 @ 6:10am
(...)
Wins in April count the same as wins in September, right?